Former two-division champion Danny Garcia returned from an 11-month hiatus Saturday night with a bang — literally.

Garcia drilled Brandon Rios with a powerful counter right hand in the ninth round that sent Rios to the canvas, and although Rios got to his feet, referee Kenny Bayless didn't like what he saw, and waved the fight off at 2:25 of the round.

With the victory before a nice crowd at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas and on Showtime, Garcia improved to 34-1 (20 KOs) by winning the WBC welterweight title eliminator, putting him in position to take on the champions of the 147-pound division, including undefeated champions Errol Spence and Keith Thurman.

“I felt the ring rust a little bit in the beginning," Garcia said. "He’s a good inside fighter and he was giving me some good uppercuts. I felt good, it was a good nine rounds. He came to fight. I came to box, I did that. I came to bang, and I gave the fans what they wanted — a knockout."

Rios, who had fought just once in more than two years, fell to 34-4-1 (25 KOs). Back with his old trainer Robert Garcia, Rios looked a bit slow early on and never seemed to really hurt Garcia, who went to the body often in the early rounds.

“I’m good. I’m mad," said Rios. "I don’t like going out like that. I’m a warrior, I got back up and I wanted to continue. I guess the corner stopped it but I’m mad."

As Garcia, who had not fought in 11 months, began to warm up and shake off the rust, he started to connect on several hard right hands, but Rios cut off the ring nicely and returned some hard uppercuts.

Garcia, as he showed in his split decision loss to Keith Thurman last March, was stronger in the second half of the fight, a nod to his superior conditioning.

Before the fight, a section-full of first responders to the deadly shooting on Oct. 1 that killed 58 people during a concert outside Mandalay Bay were honored.

Benavidez defends title: On the televised undercard, 21-year-old WBC super middleweight champion David Benavidez successfully defended his title for the first time by outslugging Ronald Gavril in a rematch of their first meeting last September. Benavidez, who won by unanimous decision, remains the youngest champion in boxing.

Benavidez punished Gavril from the opening bell, landing effective combinations throughout the fight. By the time it was over, Gavril's face and white trunks were soaked with blood, but the Romanian fighter fought back until the final bell. Benavidez scored a near unanimous shutout, winning by scores of 119-109 and 120-108 twice.

Benavidez did not use his right hand at all for the last few rounds, throwing mostly left jabs, and revealed a badly swollen right knuckle after the fight. The Phoenix fighter improved to 20-0 (17 KOs), while Gavril fell to 18-3 (14 KOs).

“I knew he was going to come aggressive. He’s a one-trick opponent," Benavidez said. "I knew I could jab and box him all day. When I saw the opening I took it. I didn’t knock him out though – he’s a tough son of a gun.

“Both my hands hurt but I have that warriors mentality so I kept pushing."

Ugas wins by TKO: Cuban defector Yordenis Ugas now living in Miami, knocked Ray Robinson (no, not that one) down in the first and seventh rounds en route to a seventh-round TKO victory in a welterweight title eliminator. Robinson (24-3, 12 KOs), who was also docked a point in round 4 for hitting Ugas after the bell, was stopped for the first time in his career.

Ugas was the much more accurate puncher, connecting on 95 of 298 punches (32%), while Robinson landed 75 of 430 punches (17%).

“I felt like I was the stronger fighter by far and he didn’t hurt me," Ugas (21-3, 10 KOs) said. "He lost a point for hitting me after the bell sounded, and knocked me down, but even that didn’t hurt me. He was very awkward and his style threw off my timing."

Washington Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman is congratulated for hitting a 2-run home run during the first inning against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago on Aug. 11, 2018.
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Max Whitlock of Great Britain competes in the floor exercise during the men's artistic gymnastics team finals at the European Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, Saturday, Aug. 11, 2018.
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